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Brad Delson
Bradford Phillip Delson (born December 1, 1977, in Agoura, Californiahttp://www.nndb.com/people/085/000030992/), is the lead guitarist for the band Linkin Park. He is also the A&R for Machine Shop Recordings. Biography Delson graduated from Agoura High School in 1995 and formed Xero with Mike Shinoda whom he knew since the seventh grade, which would later become Linkin Park. He graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a degree in communications, but decided to forgo law school to pursue a career with Linkin Park. While in college, (he shared a college room with Dave Farrell) Delson had to intern with a member of the music industry as a part of his career. He ended up working for Jeff Blue, an A&R representative at Warner Bros. Records. He told Blue about his band and in return for giving him demos to listen to he was offered constructive criticism. Blue is the man who found Linkin Park's current lead vocalist, Chester Bennington. He also used to work as a bouncer at the Roxy, as confirmed by the breakfast with Linkin Park hosted by Kevin and Bean, which can be heard KROQ.com. Before forming Xero with Mark Wakefield, Delson's first instrument was the clarinet. His first band was called the Pricks, and he later played in a band called Relative Degree with his fellow Linkin Park bandmate Rob Bourdon. He met and roomed with bandmate Dave Farrell, better known as Phoenix, at UCLA. Delson can usually be seen wearing a very large pair of headphones on stage. The headphones are designed by Shinoda and himself and change with every Linkin Park release. Delson has alluded to an exact reason for them, but he has admitted it channels him into his own personal "matrix" while performing. He won't divulge to what this "matrix" is in detail. Delson usually does not give a serious answer as to why he wears the headphones, with answers such as "If I tell you, I'll have to have sex with you." In a recent interview, Mike Shinoda said that Brad wears shooting range headphones for hearing protection. Then he gives them to Mike who then makes sticker designs which go on them. Delson has been known for his anti-social behavior on occasions. In high school, he used to dye his hair a variety of colors and in earlier days of the band he generally kept it shaved. Recently, Delson has been seen sporting an Afro, which is also seen on the front cover for Minutes to Midnight. Personal life Delson is of jewish faith. Married to Elisa Delson. They married on September 16,2003, in a private ceremony. She was born in 1979, maiden name Elisa Sara Boren. She works as a scripter (Everwood). Philanthropy In 2005, Brad signed on as an official supporter of Little Kids Rock, a nonprofit organization that provides free musical instruments and free lessons to children in public schools throughout the United States. Brad has personally delivered instruments to children in the program and sits on the organization's board of directors as an honorary member. Brad has one son Jonah Taylor who was born March 25, 2008. Guitar playing style Delson has been sometimes criticized for playing simple guitar parts and never performing solos. He says that he "doesn't like to show off," giving reason to the fact performing solos is a rare act for him. He has explained that this is due to the nature of the band, and that he tries to make his guitar playing sound like a keyboard or strings to try to fit in with the hip hop and electronica sounds of the band. In the summer of 2006, when Linkin Park performed at the Summer Sonic Festival hosted by Metallica, it was there that the band debuted a new song called Qwerty in which Delson stunned fans by playing one of the heaviest riffs the band has ever written. In Linkin Park's most recent album, Minutes to Midnight, there are more complex guitar parts and solos by Delson. The fastest is in the song, "In Pieces". Another is a simplistic one-minute-long solo in The Little Things Give You Away. Now, whenever Linkin Park performs Faint live, there is an extended version with Brad playing another fast guitar solo. While many people believe Brad has not included a solo in a studio recording before Minutes To Midnight, one was featured when the band was originally called Xero in the song Reading My Eyes. Linkin Park's new single from their upcoming sixth album, "Guilty All The Same" features a much more complex guitar playing style by Delson, including an intense 30-second guitar solo in the outro of the song. He stated that he "hasn't been motivated to play the guitars" in the previous couple of records, and thus Mike has done the majority of them. However, this song was a "reinvention" of the band, with both faster drums, and as stated above, more complex guitar. Category:Linkin Park members